Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said that the low numbers of people wearing masks on public transport is “a concern” heading into winter.
The Minister told Newstalk this morning that the Government currently has no plans to bring in any mandatory mask rules for the winter season. He said: "We are in a phase of Covid, where we are managing with Covid.
"It is about all of us doing the right thing. I can be clear on this as well: I have no public health advice nor has there been any discussion of any public advice coming to me that would suggest mandates for masks."
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The Minister said that there are three scenarios in which people are advised to wear masks; in healthcare settings, indoor crowded settings for high risk people, and on public transport.
He said the low numbers of people wearing masks on public transport is “something that is a concern for me”. Minister Donnelly added that they are putting together a communications campaign to encourage people to wear facemasks on public transport.
He said: "For example, what I would like to see, for all of us, when we get on a bus or we get on a train, is very clear signage on the buses, on the train saying you know, ‘if you are reading this sign, you should be wearing a mask’.”
Last week, Minister Donnelly said that the HSE is preparing for a "perfect storm" of Covid, flu, RSV, and other respiratory illnesses. He also recently published the HSE's winter plan which sets out the strategy to deal with such a wave of illness.
In the report titled the Strategic Approach for the Management of Covid-19 Preparedness for Autumn/Winter 2022/2023, Chief Medical Officer Professor Breda Smyth said variants of Covid will continue to emerge.
She said: "There remains a risk that some novel variants will possess properties that confer increased transmissibility, reduced susceptibility to available vaccines, resistance to therapeutics, or altered disease severity. As such, continued vigilance as to the potential impacts of Covid-19 will remain a core priority."
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